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The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery 81:1019-36 (1999)
© 1999 The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Inc.

Current Concepts Review

Current Concepts Review - Rupture of the Achilles Tendon*

NICOLA MAFFULLI, M.D., M.S., PH.D., F.R.C.S.(ORTH){dagger}, ABERDEEN, SCOTLAND


   Introduction
 
Achilles, the warrior and hero of Homer's Iliad, lends his name to the Achilles tendon, the thickest and strongest tendon in the human body138. Thetis, Achilles's mother, made him invulnerable to physical harm by immersing him in the river Styx after learning of a prophecy that Achilles would die in battle. However, the heel by which he was held remained untouched by the water and thus Achilles had a vulnerable point. Achilles led the Greek military forces, which captured and destroyed Troy after killing the Trojan prince Hector. However, Hector's brother Paris killed Achilles by firing a poisoned arrow into his heel164.

Hippocrates, in the first recorded description of an injury to the Achilles tendon, stated that "this tendon, if bruised or cut, causes the most acute fevers, induces choking, deranges the mind and at length brings death."26 Ambroise Paré, in 1575, recommended that a ruptured Achilles tendon . . . [Full Text of this Article]


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